Matt Schneider is just the epitome of somebody who is constantly on the hunt and the journey of living his best life, physically, mentally, emotionally, from a fatherhood perspective, marriage. The whole nine yards. He is a student and constantly looking to better himself to constantly others to also teach others as well to pursue that lifestyle.

On this episode, we talk about a lot of very vulnerable moments and I know you will grow if you apply some of these learnings.

What You’ll Learn

8:19 Interview Begins

9:47 Growing up / Father figures

Matt narrates the story of how his 7-month pregnant mother at the time took a beating from his drunken father. That same night, she waited until he was passed out and committed to that being the last beating she would ever take. His mom then scooped all her children and left in the middle of the night. 

She then went on to meet who would act as father figures throughout his coming years but it set a precedent for a pattern in which she would miss a lot of his and siblings games, parenting opportunities, etc., as she was very much consumed in investing time in those relationships.

14:00 Biological Father

Matt Schneider shares what it was like to hear from his biological father after not seeing him since his mother took him and his brothers when he was 3 years old, to then hear back from him and know that things had not changed for his father after all those years.

16:17 I don’t want that house

Larry shares a rare story of when the county clerk knocked on his door and told him his father had passed. The clerk notified Larry that he had inherited a house and he just told her he did not want it.

 20:19 Early Lessons

Matt talks about some of the lessons he learned early in life that have prevailed through the years. One of them being, NOT THROWING THE TOWEL. A lot of the time, it seems like taking the easy route and quitting is easy but the impact it can have in the long run.

29:35 This is NOT going to be my life

Matt remembers his mom telling him and his brother that she was leaving Donald, a father figure for him. Donald was a good father figure for him and it hit him really hard. He did not know how to compute it at the moment, but he know realizes that certain decisions can impact and break other people’s hearts and he knew early on that he did not want to be that or cause that for anyone.

32:16 5 Different Trophies

Matt shares the time when he was 12 yrs. old and was confronted by reality of what is normal and what is NOT so normal. 

36:49 Why I joined law enforcement

Matt shares his reason for joining law enforcement. Throughout his young life, there was a lack of protection and in understanding that, he felt this would help him jump into that role and not only help himself and his siblings, but also others that need that stability.

44:32 Telling Stories

Matt shares a story of one of one event he and his team had to deal with and how in looking back he now understands why self-awareness is so important and understanding how others may feel to put in the work.

52:00 The power of proximity

Matt talks about how a lot of the instructors of the project came together and started to have meaningful conversations in a way Matt felt safe and I could be real in opening up with them. Proximity to these men showed him a path that was different and so he connected to that and implemented things such as a weekly date night.

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